These findings represent how the ECs feel about the current organization and occupation designs as barriers to success. This feeling of being unable to succeed at their jobs was also related to high turnover, stress, and burnout in these jobs. Participant comments supported this finding as evidenced by Participant E: “The most challenging part of my job of course, is the expectations of getting people employed.”
Participant A provided an example of unrealistic job expectations when faced with the request, “Can you find 15 people for this program by Monday?”
These comments need to be tempered by other experiences, as seen by Participant D, “I love my job and I love working with and for the people in the north.”
The next finding relates to training and development for employees; participants had many examples of insufficient training and lack of mentors. Participant C suggested, “We need to look at better training for our consultants.”
Participant B stated, “When you are hired … there is still some training left to do and there wasn’t enough time.”
Participant B also explained that while some networking and training opportunities exist, few of the staff were able to take advantage of them: “There are very few people that can get into the mentorship program.”
Compensation and benefits looked at two areas: one, the actual money and salary the participants are currently earning; and two, the money available for programs and services related to employment development. Both areas proved to be deficient as was revealed in participant comments. Participant E stated, “There is no such thing as performance evaluations or salary increments on the reserve.”